There are plenty of things the board could do to encourage the preservation of trees, if it were so motivated. Here are but a few:

There are plenty of things the board could do to encourage the preservation of trees, if it were so motivated. Here are but a few:

• Adopt the Use-Value Assessment Assessment Program (as has Fairfax County, Alexandria City, Loudoun County, Prince William County and most of the rest of the state) to reward property owners for keeping large tracts of land open and undeveloped. See map and details at https://aaec.vt.edu/extension/use-value/map.html

• Strengthen enforcement of existing permitting rules on public as well as private sites and do not give APS and county government a free pass on adhering to permit requirements, as the county and board did when APS cut more trees than permitted on the Ashlawn Elementary School site (with the board simply changing the permit instead of applying penalties): https://www.arlnow.com/?s=Ashlawn+use+permit

• Stop exploiting loopholes in the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act with respect to resource/riparian protection areas (RPAs) on public land. The projects at Ashlawn Elementary, the Lubber Run Community Center site, Donaldson Run’s Tributary B and now Upton Hill collectively represent a loss in excess of 380 mature trees on publicly owned land. Next up is the chainsaw massacre of a forested parcel next to the Potomac River downhill from Rosslyn to make way for a parking lot and other accoutrements related to a new boathouse.

• Reinstate sensible setback rules and height limits for S-3A zoned public land (representing most public parkland) to discourage development in public parks. Staff made clear that it wouldn’t limit these changes to school construction but wished to extend the changes for all structures built on county parkland. See https://building.arlingtonva.us/resource/zoning-amendments-2016/

• Identify and nominate more “specimen” trees — the only category that provides legal protections — to more than 10 trees on public land. Out of the 11.6 sq mi of public land, there must be more than 10 trees worth saving. On the 14.4 sq mi of private land, there are 16 specimen trees. See https://environment.arlingtonva.us/trees/support-trees/specimen-trees/

Rather than looking for ways to preserve trees and restore natural infrastructure that benefits not only wildlife but also human health, Arlington County hides behind excuses to justify raping the environment. The loss of Arlington’s mature tree canopy isn’t inevitable, it’s a choice.